Evans, Robert

Man of a Thousand Faces

Academy Award winner James Cagney gives an unforgettable performance as Lon Chaney in this fascinating true story that follows the life of one of the most iconic and mysterious stars in Hollywood history!Known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces" silent film star Lon Chaney captured the imagination of the world through his incredibly expressive and transformative roles such as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom from the original Phantom of the Opera. Behind the scenes however this long-suffering talented genius' life was filled with trials and tribulations that helped shape some of his most groundbreaking roles.The Academy Award -nominated Man of a Thousand Faces captures the dramatic private life of a humble vaudeville clown who rose to become one of the biggest stars the world has ever seen!System Requirements:Running Time: 122 minutes Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/SILENT Rating: NR UPC: 025195032582 Manufacturer No: 61104080

Lon Chaney earned his nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces" with a gallery of grotesque, misshapen characters created through a combination of elaborate makeup, contorted postures, and sensitive performances. After a rich silent-movie career starring in such classics as He Who Gets Slapped, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Phantom of the Opera, he died after completing his first and only sound film, a remake of his silent crime picture The Unholy Three. James Cagney plays Chaney in this glossy Hollywood biography, a reverent, melodramatic tribute that focuses on his turbulent private life and rise from vaudeville clown to hard-working Hollywood extra to movie star. Dorothy Malone costars as his unstable first wife, who flees her husband and their young son after a failed suicide attempt, Jane Greer is the loving showgirl who fills her void, and future real-life superproducer Robert Evans plays legendary MGM producer Irving Thalberg. Cagney is a short, thick pug of an actor where Chaney is tall and lean, but he oddly resembles the star in his craggy face, and his rarely tapped dancing skills are put to good use in the early vaudeville scenes and contorted recreations of twisted Chaney characters. But most importantly, Cagney brings to the role passion and compassion that burn through the indifferent direction and show-biz clichés to create a vivid, energetic portrait of the enigmatic cult star who rarely let audiences see his true face. --Sean Axmaker

Marathon Man

John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directed this gripping, entertaining 1977 thriller that centers on graduate student Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Tootsie). Hoffman plays a sullen and cowardly loner haunted by the suicide of his father, a suspected communist. He is drawn into a murky web of international intrigue when his brother, CIA agent Doc Levy, played by Roy Scheider (Jaws, The French Connection), is murdered by a former Nazi (Laurence Olivier) who has come to the United States to reclaim a valuable stash of diamonds. Babe (Hoffman) must confront his fears of the past as he runs for his life and tries to avenge his brother's death at the same time. Featuring a classic torture sequence and a terrific cast that includes William Devane and Marthe Keller, this film written by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men) stands as a great entertainment and as one of the seminal films of the 1970s. --Robert Lane

The Sun Also Rises

Paris in the 1920s. The American journalist Jake and his friends spend the time at cafes. He has a special interest in his ex-fianc e Lady Ashley. They take a vacation in Pamplona to watch the bull-fights.System Requirements:Run Time: 130 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 024543249221 Manufacturer No: 2234922

The Best of Everything

The business world of the late Eisenhower era has rarely been more chicly drawn than in The Best of Everything, a juicy soap opera of the "working girl" school. Hope Lange lands a secretarial job at a Manhattan publishing house, eventually rising to an editorial position--but not before witnessing the back-biting, fanny-pinching snakepit that is the corporate workplace circa 1959. The spunky trio of Lange, Diane Baker, and Suzy Parker have romantic misadventures aplenty; Baker falls in with smarmy young Robert Evans (he had the tan even back then) and aspiring actress Parker lands in the clutches of heartbreaker stage director Louis Jourdan. The film's males are truly pigs in gray flannel suits. Beefcake slab Stephen Boyd offers solace to Lange, while Martha Hyer is around to provide yet another example of a woman suffering for the sake of a married man. Despite all the young female talent (redhead Parker was one of the most beautiful women of the fifties, a top model with a brief movie career), nobody holds serve when Joan Crawford bulls her way on screen. As a senior magazine editor (and a presumably cautionary example of the bitter career woman), Crawford eats the other actors like hors d'oeuvres. Jean Negulesco's staid direction never notices how trashy and plodding the material is, stressing instead the designer prettiness of CinemaScope: the interiors are a parade of cool colors and postwar furniture, the location shots of Manhattan streets are as gorgeous and nostalgic as an ancient engraving. --Robert Horton

Rona Jaffe's best-selling novel comes to life in this witty tale about the personal and professional lives of the men and women in a New York publishing firm. Heading a huge cast. JOAN CRAWFORD "gives an excellently etched performance" (Hollywood Reporter) as a tough-talking editor who can't seem to win at love. There are a few more interesting stories around the office than there are in the manuscripts at Fabian Publishers. Among the principal players: a new secretary (HOPE LANG) who quickly gets her boss's (CRAWFORD) job and romances a handsome editor (STEPHEN BOYD); a Colorado secretary (DIANE BARKER) who falls for the wrong man (ROBERT EVANS); and a would be actress (SUZY PARKER) who's jilted by a two-timing director (LUIS JOURDAN). Slick and glossy, The Best Of Everything is a panorama of office politics before women's liberation.

The Kid Stays in the Picture

Robert Evans became head of production at a major Hollywood studio at age 24. Took a studio from worst to first. And brought to the screen a phenomenal string of hits that includes Chinatown and The Godfather. He lived fast. Lived large. Lost it all. Then rose to prominence again. And now the inside-Hollywood story is revealed by ROBERT EVANS in this dazzling show-all movie that's narrated by Evans in his inimitable showman's style!Running Time: 91 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. UPC: 085393783020

Not only did movie mogul Robert Evans produce some of the greatest movies ever made--Chinatown, The Godfather, and Rosemary's Baby, as well as huge hits like Love Story and Urban Cowboy--but he defined Hollywood high life, dating models and movie stars and, eventually, succumbing to cocaine addiction and scandal. You don't live like this without having a huge ego, and that ego is gloriously on display in The Kid Stays in the Picture, a brilliantly dishy documentary on Evans. What puts this cunning compilation of movie clips and digitally manipulated photos over the top is that Evans himself narrates the movie with a riveting mix of narcissistic self-aggrandizement and cool self-assessment. There are no interviews with other people to give any outside perspective on this man's life; for the duration of the movie we are plunged into Evan's own head, and it's funny, sad, and always fascinating. --Bret Fetzer

The Young and the Dead

An irreverent look at how a fertile imagination and 21st century technology can turn the most unlikely business into and exciting--and profitable--undertaking. The Young and The Dead tells the story of how the Hollywood Memorial Cemetary became Hollywood Forever. A metamorphosis from decrepit burial ground to a modern interactive state-of-the-art facility with touch-screen kiosks and a gift shop complete with souvenirs. And how a cemetary became according to LA magazine one of the sexiest places in LA!Running Time: 87 min.System Requirements: Running Time 90 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 026359201424

Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs & Blockbusters

Through exclusive interviews with over two dozen top names in Hollywood, as well as clips and montages assembled from dozens of notable Hollywood films - from megahits like The Godfather and Jaws to busts like The Clan of the Cave Bear and Howard the Duck - this 75-minute documentary focuses on the razor-thin line that separates memorable blockbusters from forgettable bombs. The interviewees provide illuminating insights into the moviemaking process, as well as anecdotes about some of their own movies, both good and bad. Produced and directed by Oscar?- and Emmy? Award-winner Bill Couturie, the documentary was executive produced by Peter Bart, the editor of Variety magazine, which is celebrating its 100th year in 2006, and whose headlines appear as bridges dividing sections of this film.

Con Man (aka Cannes Man)

Film producer Sy Lerner makes a bet with a fellow film executive that he can turn any nobody into a star at the Cannes Film Festival. A New York cab driver that is visiting the festival is chosen as the test subject to settle the bet. Sy uses his skills of hype and manipulation to try and turn the cab driver named Frank into a genius screenwriter and the talk of the town. Loaded with celebrity appearances, the film takes you on a surreal trip through the world of the Cannes Film Festival like you have never it before.

Cannes Man

The Kid Stays in the Picture

Not only did movie mogul Robert Evans produce some of the greatest movies ever made--Chinatown, The Godfather, and Rosemary's Baby, as well as huge hits like Love Story and Urban Cowboy--but he defined Hollywood high life, dating models and movie stars and, eventually, succumbing to cocaine addiction and scandal. You don't live like this without having a huge ego, and that ego is gloriously on display in The Kid Stays in the Picture, a brilliantly dishy documentary on Evans. What puts this cunning compilation of movie clips and digitally manipulated photos over the top is that Evans himself narrates the movie with a riveting mix of narcissistic self-aggrandizement and cool self-assessment. There are no interviews with other people to give any outside perspective on this man's life; for the duration of the movie we are plunged into Evan's own head, and it's funny, sad, and always fascinating. --Bret Fetzer